Last year, Vic Mensa blessed the masses with the well-received EP V TAPE, which saw seven dope cuts and additional features from Eryn Allen Kane, Snoh Aalegra, SAINt JHN, BJ The Chicago Kid, DIXSON, and Peter CottonTale. That was then followed with March’s I TAPE, another seven-song offering with new collaborations alongside Kane, Tish, Zacari, Jeremih, Wyatt Waddell, Chance The Rapper, and Wyclef Jean. This release also raised hopes that Mensa would continue this pattern of short play drops, given the presumption that he’s just running through letters in his name.
This past week, Mensa reached back to I TAPE to deliver a visual for “VICTORY,” a Just Blaze and SC-produced cut that sees the Chicago talent rapping about various beefs and issues with the music industry:
“Niggas looked in my eyes, said I could never come back, and then they watch me come back, I’m gifted with the Nina, a leader to the young blacks, a hater tweeted a photo with me asking, ‘Where the guns at?’ What you thought was in the Heron Preston shoulder bag, dumbass? One strap, ‘cause I’d rather be caught packin’ than be caught lackin’, shit, I could pay bond, I can’t buy my way out a casket…”
Directed by The Times, the black and white visual for “VICTORY” begins with the revelation that Vic Mensa left five copies of I TAPE for fans to find — winners were then picked up by Mensa himself in a Lamborghini Urus, which can be seen throughout the fast-moving clip. Mensa can also be seen riding with other bikers through the streets and performing the track in different locations around what’s presumed to be Mensa’s midwest stomping grounds.
Press play on Vic Mensa’s “VICTORY” video. Those who missed out can enjoy I TAPE in its entirety here.